Access to premises – nearly there?

Michael Small, Senior Policy Officer

Australian Human Rights Commission

Overview

Since the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) came into force in March 1993 complaints to the Australian Human Rights Commission and State/Territory anti-discrimination agencies have shown that while a building might meet the requirements of building law it could still be the subject of a successful complaint under anti-discrimination law.

This inconsistency covers both the level of access required, for example the area of coverage of a hearing augmentation system in a conference room, and the amenity of the access provided, for example the location of unisex accessible toilets and location of accessible entrances and doorways.

Progressive changes to the national building code – the Building Code of Australia (BCA) - have been made since 1995 to address these inconsistencies, but in 2000 significant momentum was given to the process when the Federal Government amended the DDA to allow for the development of Disability Standards for Access to Premises (Premises Standard).

This amendment allows for a mechanism that will clarify accessibility requirements under the DDA and ultimately ensure consistency between building law and the DDA.

The effect of a Premises Standard would be that owners, developers and managers of buildings used by the public would be able to meet the objectives of the DDA (as they apply to buildings) by meeting the requirements of the Premises Standards. In the absence of Premises Standards, people with disabilities, owners and developers would continue having to rely on the individual complaints mechanism of the DDA as the only means of defining compliance.

Rather than develop Premises Standards as a separate and additional code to be followed by the building industry the intention is, once the Premises Standards is completed, to change the BCA access provisions to reflect what the Premises Standards require. This will mean that the building industry can continue to use the new BCA confident that compliance with a new BCA would ensure compliance with the Premises Standards and therefore the DDA.

Too long a journey

In 2000 the Commonwealth Government asked the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) to develop proposals for a Premises Standards. The ABCB established the Building Access Policy Committee (BAPC) which included representatives from government, people with a disability, building professionals and the property sector.

The BAPC developed a draft Premises Standards which was released for public comment in 2004. Following consultation members of the BAPC tried to find agreement on how to finalise the draft, but there were significant differences of view on some key issues including, for example, circulation space dimensions, access to upper floors in small buildings and whether or not to require access to common areas in apartment blocks.

In 2005 the ABCB sent a report to Government identifying areas where agreement could not be reached and where Government needed to make final decisions. It was hoped that Government would make necessary decisions and finalise the Premises Standards, but unfortunately that did not happen.

In late 2008 the Government held more discussions with representatives from the disability and building sectors and in December 2008 presented a draft Premises Standards to Parliament. This draft was immediately referred to a Parliamentary Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs for investigation.

During the first half of 2009 the Committee conducted a number of public hearings and received more than 140 submissions on the draft. The Committee delivered its report to Parliament in June 2009 and made a number of recommendations for changes to the draft. http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/laca/disabilitystandards/report.htm

As of the beginning of September the Government is yet to respond to the recommendations in detail, but public statements by the Attorney General indicate there is a desire to finalise the Premises Standards as quickly as possible.

Some of the proposed changes

While debate will continue about some of the proposed improvements in access in the Premises Standards and some of the things that aren’t there, it is clear that new buildings and buildings undergoing renovation will provide far better access than required under the current BCA.

Among the improvements are:

• Significant increases in the number of unisex accessible toilets required in buildings
• The introduction of ‘ambulant accessible’ toilet cubicles within toilet blocks
• Improved circulation space in new accessible toilets, lifts and around doorways
• Introduction of passing and turning spaces on a range of passageways
• Improved information and signage about accessible facilities
• Increased number of hotel/motel accessible rooms
• Increased number of wheelchair accessible spaces in theatres and cinemas

Are we there yet?

Once finalised the Premises Standards have to go through a formal Parliamentary process before being adopted. Once that has been completed the ABCB has to begin the process of changing the BCA so that it reflects what is in the Premises Standards. This means that even with the best will in the world it will still be some time before the process is completed.

The Parliamentary Committee investigation into the draft Premises Standards was unanimous in its view that it should be introduced without delay.

Committee Chair, Mark Dreyfus, said in his introduction to the report:

“People with a disability have waited more than long enough for better access to premises.”

We are not there yet, but all the indications are that it won’t be long.